


Sick Day

by medi



Series: The Blood of Dragons [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, M/M, Sickfic, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-07 03:33:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14662434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medi/pseuds/medi
Summary: Xander stubbornly heads into battle despite feeling ill and finds himself between a rock and a hard place on the field. Luckily, a loyal ninja arrives in time to rescue him.(More general than pairing but there's implied romantic feelings.)





	Sick Day

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this sometime before finals, tossed it at my twitter friends and forgot about it lol. This is kind of in the dragon royals au since it's in line with some ideas I had for that (which I need to expand on one of these days). Also expect anything I write w/ these two to be tagged w/ trans character at this point (unless it doesn't come up? but it's still an understood thing) b/c I headcanon both of them as trans. You might have noticed.  
> This is heavily inspired by Berserk chapters 14 & 15\. I've been rereading the manga lately.

_Today of all days._ Xander thought.

The moment he woke that morning, he felt it, the onset of some sickness. And he went to the healer with a vague hope that there might be a simple cure.

"At the very least, you have a fever," the castle physician told him. "You need bed rest today, my lord."

"I cannot," Xander objected, rising from his bed. "There is a battle today, and I must be there."

"My lord, you are certainly in no fit state to fight!"

"I cannot abandon my siblings or my soldiers; I will mind myself."

The physician sighed. "As you wish, Prince Xander. If you must, then take this medicine before you depart. It should keep the fever down. Take care not to overexert yourself."

Would that it were so simple, to take that medicine and weather the battle for so long as it lasted, then rest for the remainder of the day. Even the slow walk of his horse on the way to the battlefield irritated his head, making his ears ring. He touched his forehead and winced; gods, this was nearly unbearable. But he had to be here.

On the battlefield, in his formation of soldiers, he tried to focus his eyes forward, but his vision doubled and his head seemed too heavy for his shoulders, overflowing with dizziness. Still, gripping the cold steel of Siegfried in his hand steadied him somewhat. He would have it by his side for the battle, and he hoped that would be enough.

The fighting, however, turned quickly to melee, and Xander found himself cut off from his soldiers by one of those Hoshidan generals who fought with violent vigour, caring little if he left his adversaries in one piece.

"But you," he said to Xander. "I'll need whole."

Xander held his blade in front of him. "You may try."

He parried each hit, but to get one in himself proved difficult. His head swam, Siegfried weighed a ton in his hand. It was as if he had no muscle at all. A strong blow knocked him from his mount.

"You don't seem to be in top form today, princeling," the general said, swinging his club. "Perhaps you should have sat this one out. Bringing you back to Hoshido as a prisoner in this state will hardly be a feat worthy of praise."

"This fight is not over yet," Xander said. "I do not need my mount or my best to finish you."

"Finish? Ha! You've barely started! Land a hit, then I'll believe you!"

Even with slow reflexes, he could defend himself, but inch by inch he was pushed back toward the edge of a cliff near the battlefield.

"Your options are looking grim, princeling."

"Kill me, then, for I will not surrender."

Xander's foot met the cliff's edge. Nowhere to run. He was so lightheaded, he might have already been falling.

"Prince Xander!"

A dagger buried itself in the side of the Hoshidan general, a chink in the armour Xander hadn't been able to reach. Kaze retrieved the dagger and dodged a strike from the general's club.

"You're the ninja who betrayed Hoshido!" the general said, gripping his side. "You're protecting this Nohrian prince now?! Have you no honour, Kaze?!"

"Hoshido may be my homeland," Kaze said. "But I remembered the kindness that was shown to me in Nohr, even as a prisoner. A kindness I did not recall in Hoshido. There is honour in following my heart, doing what I believe is right. And that is to be here, protecting Prince Xander."

"Then die beside your false prince!"

A heavy club did not fare well against Kaze's quick footwork, but Xander was still cornered, trapped between them and a battlefield he could not navigate.

"Hold on, milord!" Kaze called to him. "Laslow and Peri will be here for you soon!"

"Focus on your battle, Kaze, not me!" Xander told him, although he could barely stand now.

He stumbled and, overtaken by dizziness, forgot which way to sway.

"Prince Xander!" Kaze shouted.

Cutting into the general's gut and pushing him aside (disregarding whether he was actually dead), he rushed to Xander, who could not be saved from falling at this point, and grabbed him around his waist. They fell from the cliffside together. Kaze slowed their descent by digging the blade of his gauntlet into the loose rock on the cliff's face, but the metal snapped and sent them plummeting into the river below.

Kaze resurfaced, gasping and holding Xander against his side. He swam to the river's bank, dragging Xander with him, and settled to catch his breath once they were both on solid ground. Kaze coughed up a bit of water, trying to clear his clogged throat. Xander didn't stir, but breathed still.

"To drag him back to the battlefield in this state..." Kaze said to himself. "It wouldn't do either of us any good. We'll need shelter until he's awake."

Not far from the river's bank was a small alcove, not quite large enough to be called a cave, but carved into stone so there was a roof over it and walls on all sides: it would do for a shelter. Kaze laid Xander out on the alcove's floor and checked him over for wounds. His hand passed across Xander's forehead and recoiled at the warmth radiating from it.

"Has he had this fever the whole time?" Kaze wondered. He sighed, but he couldn't fault Xander for it, as Kaze himself would have done the same.

He couldn't do nothing about it, however.

"My deepest apologies for this indecency, milord," Kaze said. "But I cannot leave your in soaking wet clothes with a fever."

He worked at the straps of Xander's armour, the chestplate and greaves and pauldrons, revealing the soaked clothes clinging to his body underneath. It occurred to Kaze he had never seen Xander without his armour, though this was merely the thick protective clothing he wore into battle. But without that armour always readying him for a fight at any time, he seemed less like a prince and more like... a person. Approachable.

Kaze shook his head. Such a thought was dangerous for a servant to have towards a master. There was a distance between them he was required to maintain, at least in his own mind.

As he stripped Xander of the rest of his clothing, he came across cuts on Xander's chest that he feared may have been fresh from the battle, but, trailing his fingers over them, he found that they were old scars. He retracted his hand quickly, deciding it lingered a little too long there. Too intimate of a touch.

A lack of blankets proved troublesome, so Kaze gathered a set of long leaves and laid them across Xander, hoping they would suffice for warmth.

 _You could lay down next to him,_ Kaze advised himself. _Use your body heat for warmth._

His face flushed at the mere thought. It would be alright, he supposed, using himself as a simple source of heat for this prince he served.... no. He had done enough questionable things already for Xander's sake. And someone needed to keep watch. Laying a damp cloth across Xander's forehead, Kaze concluded he had done all he could.

Kaze unwrapped his scarf from around his neck and shrugged off his tunic, laying them out to dry, then settled near the mouth of their shelter to watch for dangers.

Dusk came, the night passed in silence, then dawn arrived; at first morning light, Kaze ventured a short way from the alcove to search for food, but kept it well within his sights. He was washing a few found fruits in the river when Xander finally awoke. The rustling of the leaf blanket attracted Kaze's attention, though he relaxed upon seeing Xander emerge from the alcove.

"Milord!" he said, cheerful. "I am pleased to see that you are feeling better."

"Kaze...?" Xander rubbed at his eyes sleepily. "The battle... what happened?"

"Well, you-" Kaze began, then stopping short as he realized Xander hand't dressed before coming out here. "You-... A-Ah...."

He desperately wanted to say something, however, he could only seem to stare, and Xander followed his line of sight down to his own uncovered body.

"K-Kaze!" he shouted, his cheeks reddening up to his ears. "Would you care to explain-?!"

"R-Right away, milord!" Kaze said, scrambling from the riverside. "I promise I will explain everything! Your clothes should certainly be dry by now..."


End file.
